Reservatrol Improves Endurance

It's been known for a while now that reservatrol, a compound found in the skin of grapes and other fruits, and yes, red wine, has many health benefits.  Back in 2006, a study published in the journal Cell, reported that reservatrol, the compound found in  "significantly increased their (mice)  aerobic capacity, as evidenced by their increased running time and consumption of oxygen in muscle fibers."

Check out this new study (Resveratrol May Be Natural Exercise Performance Enhancer) that found high levels of the compound improved exercise performance due to changes in skeletal muscle and heart function in rats. 

You can find the abstract here (Improvements in skeletal muscle strength and cardiac function induced by resveratrol during exercise training contribute to enhanced exercise performance in rats)

Don't start drinking red wine just yet.  According to one researcher,  Resveratrol does not exist in wine or grapes in a high-enough amount to provide any significant health benefits or problems, the authors explained. Human trials with any relevant findings have used resveratrol doses equivalent to 667 bottles of red wine (1gm of resveratrol).

Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of walking and running: a placebo-controlled study

These results indicate that the positive effects of 6 days of BR supplementation on the physiological responses to exercise can be ascribed to the high NO3− content per se. -J of Applied Physiology, May, 2011

MY COMMENT: These UK researchers were testing the theory that nitrate is indeed the component in beetroot juice responsible for enhancing performance (see Beetroot Juice Improves Performance). It does appear that beetroot juice does increase nitrate levels - Relative to PL (placebo), BR elevated plasma NO2− concentration (183 ± 119 vs. 373 ± 211 nM, P < 0.05) and reduced systolic blood pressure (129 ± 9 vs. 124 ± 10 mmHg, P < 0.01).

Need more evidence?

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study, nine healthy young well trained men performed sub-maximal and maximal work tests on a cycle ergometer after two separate three-day periods of dietary supplementation. For one of these three-day periods, they received sodium nitrate at a dose of 0.1 millimoles per kilo of bodyweight per day (equating to about 500mgs of actual nitrate – an amount that can be consumed when consuming a high-vegetable diet). For the other period, they received an equal amount of sodium chloride (table salt – placebo).

What the scientists found amazed them. The oxygen cost at sub-maximal levels of exercise was significantly reduced after nitrate supplementation compared with placebo – in other words, they became more efficient at using oxygen. Over the four lowest work rates, their oxygen efficiency jumped from 19.7 to 21.1%. Or to put it another way, the same work output required less oxygen after nitrate supplementation compared to when nitrate wasn’t taken. Moreover, this oxygen-saving effect occurred without any increase in lactate production, indicating that energy production had become more efficient -Sports nutrition: is dietary nitrate the key to enhanced endurance performance?

Spirulina Found to Enhance Endurance

Subjects that took a daily 6 g dose of spirulina for 4 weeks were found to perform better than runners who took a placebo. The test involved running for 2 hours at 70%-75% intensity, followed by a run to exhausion at 95% max. The runners taking the spirulina supplement were able to run longer during the 95% trial(2.05 min vs 2.7 min). Fat oxidation was 10.9% higher on the spirulina trial. Ergogenic and antioxidant effects of spirulina supplementation in humans.

MY COMMENT: I need to burn all the fat I can- worth a try! Spirulina is a blue green algae containing "an unusually high amount of protein, between 55% and 77% by dry weight". It also is a significant source of other nutrients linked to good health including DHA and EPA, those healthy omega-3 fatty acids found in fish. Great information on spirulina at wikipedia.org.

Note: According to wikipedia, "Spirulina contains phenylalanine, which should be avoided by people who have the metabolic disorder phenylketonuria, where the body cannot metabolize this amino acid and it builds up in the brain causing damage."

Your local health food store or GNC will carry spirulina, or order right here!

Nicotine Patch Found to Boost Endurance

Ten out of 12 subjects cycled for longer with NIC administration, and this resulted in a significant 17 ± 7% improvement in performance (P < 0.05). No differences were observed for perceived exertion, heart rate or ventilation. There were no differences in concentrations of plasma glucose, lactate or circulating fatty acids. In the absence of any effect on peripheral markers, we conclude that nicotine prolongs endurance by a central mechanism. -Experimental Physiology

MY COMMENT: I wish I'd taken a look at nicotine and exercise as a grad student masters thesis. I just spent a couple of hours researching the negative effects of smoking on running when I stumbled onto this study. Apparently nicotine increases sweat response at the same time it increases production of vasopressin, an anti-diuretic hormone. In other words, you produce less urine. That could be beneficial to marathon runners.

Nicotine was found to increase vasopressin secretion by all three routes of administration -J of Physiology


Slapping on a 7 mg patch sounds easy, but may not be for everyone.

"All subjects commented on the ‘side-effects’ they experienced overnight after applying the nicotine patch; these included increased heart rate and reduced appetite, headaches and nausea, restless sleep and vivid/bizarre dreams and feelings of having a hangover when they arrived for testing; most subjects reported that these symptoms disappeared once they started exercising"

Too Much Speed Kills in Distance Running

"Whatever you do that is very intense has to be balanced out with a reasonable volume of easy work. The harder you go, the more volume of easier work is required, and the easier the better. Total rest won't do it. Easy aerobic activity will. That's the secret. We'll leave the physiologists and PhD theorists to tell us why." -Keith Livingstone, author of Healthy Intelligent Training

Rhodiola Improves Endurance!

I walked into a local nutrition supplement store recently and inquired what they had for runners. They introduced me to Rhodiola, a herb that grows in the mountains in Europe and Asia.

Doing further research, I found this study out of Belgium.

Compared with P (placebo), acute R (rhodiola) intake in Phase I increased (p <.05) time to exhaustion from 16.8 +/- 0.7 min to 17.2+/- 0.8 min. Accordingly, VO2peak (p <.05) and VCO2peak (p<.05) increased during R compared to P from 50.9 +/- 1.8 ml x min(-1) x kg(- )1 to 52.9 +/- 2.7 ml x min(-10) x kg(-1) (VO2peak) and from 60.0 +/- 2.3 ml x min(-1) x kg(-1) to 63.5+/- 2.7 ml x min(-1) x kg(-1) (VCO2peak). Pulmonary ventilation (p =.07) tended to increase more during R than during P (P: 115.9+/- 7.7 L/min; R: 124.8 +/- 7.7 L/min). All other parameters remained unchanged. PHASE II: Four-week R intake did not alter any of the variables measured. CONCLUSION: Acute Rhodiola rosea intake can improve endurance exercise capacity in young healthy volunteers. This response was not altered by prior daily 4-week Rhodiola intake.

Looks like it has some stimulant properties not unlike caffeine, but long term use provides no additional benefit.